


Oh, my feet don't touch the floor

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Black Sails
Genre: 52 weeks challenge, Miranda is bae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 08:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6277558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"“What of the stars?”</p>
<p>“The stars?” He turned his head to her.</p>
<p>“Do you think they’re beautiful and scary too?”"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, my feet don't touch the floor

**Author's Note:**

> So, guess who after 2 years is back to watching Black Sails. Yes, me! And it's soooo good. I am in love, especially with Miranda and her character development. Anyhow, someone should write the whole story of her days spent in the ship, but for now this is all I have.
> 
> Prompt for this week was: a story set at a full moon, but as usual that isn't very important.

Miranda could see the reflection of the full moon on the ocean and truly, she didn’t know where she should look, what was more beautiful, if above her, where the stars shone alongside the moon, or below, where the waves went on rhythmically, not caring about anything.

It was late and silent, something a ship usually wasn’t, especially when full of pirates, but that night it was. James had told her not to walk alone in the ship but Miranda trusted that no harm would come to her. Not because she trusted the pirates, no, she was not that naïve, but because they knew the consequences of doing anything to her. Sometimes it was hard to believe the image James had cultivated for himself in Captain Flint, while others she couldn’t believe he’d managed to hide that part of himself for so long years before, in a different place.

A sudden noise awoke her from her dwellings and she looked sharply to her right, where one of the pirates had hit something.

“Sorry,” the man almost whispered and she nodded at him, expecting him to just go away, but instead she felt him slowly walk towards her. Miranda couldn’t help but to tense; just because she was certain no harm would come to her, it did not mean she desired to spend time alone with men that she knew were dangerous and were just as likely to treat her well as badly.

“It’s a beautiful night,” the man said and she looked to her right again. He was tall, more than most men she had met, and had very short hair.

“It is,” she replied, also in a low tone. It didn’t feel right to speak very loudly, even if there was no one there to listen. Maybe that was exactly why. She imagined how many stories the sea and the stars had been witness to.

The man didn’t say anything, and so she expected him to leave just as suddenly as he’d appeared, but instead he slowly bended down, so that his elbows were resting on the railing.

“What is your name?” She asked. If they were going to spend time together, then she would like to at least know her new companion’s name.

“William Manderly, but most people call me Billy Bones.”

Miranda nodded. In a way she wasn’t very surprised. James had told stories of his crew for years and if there was someone that she had always expected to meet that had been Billy Bones, even if consciously she couldn’t find a reason for it.

“I would tell you my name but I suppose you already know it,” she told him with a little smile and he nodded in response, not looking away from the water.

She too looked at it again, standing straight with her hands in front of her, her right atop her left. Miranda knew she could relax; it felt highly unlikely for a pirate to judge her for her lack of posture, but this was the way she had stood for years and she could tell herself it would be hard to break the habit, but in truth she had never tried to. She had found that in the end, it were the small things that you missed when things changed around you, just as those were the ones that made you move on with the change.

“I’ve always liked the sea,” she started, not looking to see Billy’s reaction. “But I’ve always been scared of it too.”

“It is scary. It can take our lives easier than any weapon,” Billy replied after some seconds in silence, still in a low tone. He continued after some more stilled moments, “but you’re right, it’s beautiful too. And calming. Unconcerned.”

“Unconcerned?” She asked, curious because that was not a word she’d ever heard to describe the sea and its movements.

“Well, yes. It doesn’t care how many lives it takes, nor about the wars fought in it. It just continues like it always has. The whole world could be burning, but if you looked at the sea… it wouldn’t feel like it.”

Miranda turned fully to look at Billy, who was still looking ahead. She smiled softly. He was an interesting individual, just as she’d expected. Still, she wasn’t sure how he would take that observation, so she kept quiet on her thoughts.

“But then,” she started, and he looked up at her, “I suppose that has its good points at well. The world could be burning, but looking at the sea, you would know there was still a place to escape. To be free. That is what most pirates see in the ocean, is it not?”

“Freedom?” He asked with a raised brow. He looked back at it. “I don’t know. I’ve always seen freedom as something a person has or doesn’t have and it has to do with them and the people in power. The sea can’t do much for it.”

“No, I imagine it can’t.”

Miranda looked back at it, still standing, and so did Billy. She turned her head to him, observing him. With a smile, she decided that she had nothing to lose in continuing the conversation, and it truly had been too long since she had had a good one with anyone but James, and they had argued the same points for so long that there was nothing new in them anymore.

“What of the stars?”

“The stars?” He turned his head to her.

“Do you think they’re beautiful and scary too?”

“Beautiful, yes. Scary… I never saw why. It’s not like they can kill us.”

“No. But they have been here since you and I were born, and will remain long after we are dead. They are the true reminder of our mortality. They witness everything, the things we wish to share and those that we don’t. We have no secrets when it comes to them.”

Billy shrugged, “if my secrets have to be known, then I’m glad it’s just the stars knowing them. Who would they tell, anyway?”

Miranda gave a little laugh and he looked surprised at her, looking away after some seconds of silence.

“Do you ever wish to be something other than a pirate?” She asked, not because she didn’t enjoy the silence, but because she was genuinely curious. James was the only pirate she’d ever truly known, and she was more than aware of his desire to stop being one, even if she sometimes didn’t think it was completely truthful.

Billy didn’t look away from the water when he answered. “Not really. Not with the choices I’ve made; I don’t think there’s any other profession that would take me as easily.”

Miranda nodded and decided that for now she wouldn’t ask more questions. She was still curious, but she could see how calmly Billy was looking at the waves below. She would leave him alone unless he chose otherwise.

And so, they kept quiet for a long time, with Billy never looking up and Miranda glancing between him, the ocean and the sky, with its stars and moon still staring down, questioning her wishes and fears.

“I saw the letter,” the silence was suddenly interrupted and Miranda was brought back to reality. Looking to her right, Billy was no longer leaning as far down, having his hands in the places of his elbows. He looked bigger, but she didn’t feel threatened. It was hard to feel endangered when surrounded by such quietness.

“Letter?” She asked, honestly confused.

“The one you gave Bryson, requesting for Flint to be pardoned.”

“Ah,” she said, looking at him, still with a little smile dancing in her lips. “He didn’t ask me to write it, if that’s what you’re wondering about.”

Billy looked at her searchingly, and Miranda simply blinked, not moving beyond that, letting him search for whatever it was he was looking.

“I was never sure if he had or not. Wouldn’t have seemed that far etched; for him to want to leave us all behind.”

“You don’t like James much, do you?” Miranda asked, once again simply curious.

Billy frowned. “I… don’t know what to think of him. He’s not a good man, but then again, I don’t think I’ve met one in a very long time, if ever. But…” he looked at her, “I like to think he’s not a complete monster.”

“A complete? So he is a little bit of a monster?”

Billy shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe. He’s done very bad things.”

“I know.”

“Like the killings in the Maria Alleyne,” Billy continued, and now there was a look being sent her way. Ah, so someone had found out.

Miranda looked at the ocean, not sure if she was running from Billy’s look, or just trying to collect her thoughts. Perhaps a bit of both.

“I take responsibility for that. I had my reasons,” she looked back at Billy, “which aren’t of your concern.”

“I’m not asking for those. It’s between you and Flint.”

“Then why bring it up?” Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow. Billy did not have a silver tongue like James, or even like Mr. Silver, whom she had heard much of, but he was smart and he thought of what he said. If he’d brought the letter and the Maria Alleyne up, it was because he wanted something to come out of it.

“I guess…” He frowned and she kept quiet, waiting to hear him out. “I don’t know. I always thought Captain Flint did everything just for himself.”

“You really don’t think highly of him,” Miranda put her hand up, to stop Billy before he replied, “not that I blame you. I am aware of the actions James has had over the years, and I don’t agree with all of them either but like you said, it’s hard to find a good man. Or a good woman. We’re all guilty of something. Simply, some more than others.”

She paused and looked at him. Billy was looking at her attentively. “I won’t tell you he’s a good man. I like to believe he is, but then again, people have always seen me as too naïve.”

Billy snorted at that, like he didn’t think that was possible and Miranda smiled at him, choosing to take it as a compliment. It felt like one and she didn’t think Billy would insult her that shamelessly.

“I will tell you, however, that he is not a monster. He is a man, like any other, and he has made good and bad choices, just as he will do until the day life leaves him,” she stopped, feeling like continuing for much longer but at the same time being aware that there were reasons for which James chose to keep silent regarding several matters in the presence of his crew and that she should not be the one divulging them.

“I don’t think he is,” Billy said and gave her a little smile, “even he isn’t that good of a liar to hide from the eyes of a woman who loves him.”

She laughed, more freely than she had in weeks, perhaps months, if not years.

Miranda looked back at him and he shared her smile.

Then they both went back to looking at the sea, and she decided to ask if he had ever read Marcus Aurelius in a few minutes. But for now they would just look at the sea and let themselves be watched by the stars. It was not a night badly spent, Miranda thought. She looked at her companion. No, not at all.

 


End file.
